Kalamata lies at the southern end of Greece in the province of Peloponnese…home to the ancient culture of Sparta. Arriving in December, it is a lovely town quietly awaiting the influx of next summer’s tourists. It is our first port of call in an Orthodox community. On the first day off, Lidia and Elias arrived back at the ship carrying a huge, round loaf of bread that they had been given at the local church. They had arrived at the church towards the end of the service as people were being given the bread. So the whole ship feasted on the bread of this ancient church.
On our first day off, Remaliah and Erika were approached by a man on the street asking about their visit to Kalamata. It turned out that he was a reporter and he came to visit the ship and encouraged us to visit the mayor’s office which we did. As the week unfolded, many of the students made friends with local people. It just seemed that doors of friendship opened up as we went about our daily lives. Dan and John Paul went to buy a morning snack at a local grocery store, and this lead to Dan being invited at the end of the week to have dinner with the shop owner and his son.
The teaching this week focused on looking at Gods heart for reconciliation and justice. Working in Belfast and seeing young people trained to work as peacemakers. He challenged us to begin to engage with the gospel at the level of Jesus’ concern for the injustices of our world. We looked at the issues of the church’s lack of response to apartheid in South Africa or the unfortunate tendency that often we back one side of a conflict as if God is for one side and not for the suffering people on both sides. As we discussed these issues, God impressed on all of us how important it is that we understand how to walk out the truth of what Jesus taught. The world has seen the gospel often controlled by our nationalisms and power but perhaps in this generation, we will see more followers of Jesus arising who want to live out the challenges that Jesus presented us to bring his kingdom values to help the oppressed, poor, and needy of this world.
Now on to Crete and the ancient world of the Minoans……..
On our first day off, Remaliah and Erika were approached by a man on the street asking about their visit to Kalamata. It turned out that he was a reporter and he came to visit the ship and encouraged us to visit the mayor’s office which we did. As the week unfolded, many of the students made friends with local people. It just seemed that doors of friendship opened up as we went about our daily lives. Dan and John Paul went to buy a morning snack at a local grocery store, and this lead to Dan being invited at the end of the week to have dinner with the shop owner and his son.
The teaching this week focused on looking at Gods heart for reconciliation and justice. Working in Belfast and seeing young people trained to work as peacemakers. He challenged us to begin to engage with the gospel at the level of Jesus’ concern for the injustices of our world. We looked at the issues of the church’s lack of response to apartheid in South Africa or the unfortunate tendency that often we back one side of a conflict as if God is for one side and not for the suffering people on both sides. As we discussed these issues, God impressed on all of us how important it is that we understand how to walk out the truth of what Jesus taught. The world has seen the gospel often controlled by our nationalisms and power but perhaps in this generation, we will see more followers of Jesus arising who want to live out the challenges that Jesus presented us to bring his kingdom values to help the oppressed, poor, and needy of this world.
Now on to Crete and the ancient world of the Minoans……..
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